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Demystifying the C-Suite

Over the last five years I have been fortunate to work with Director, Vice President, and C-Suite level colleagues very closely. This has taught me a great deal about the ins and outs of how a business is truly run and how expectations are managed. For those that are not fortunate enough to work as closely with this set often, it may be very intimidating.

If you are intimidated enough, they may see you as a less than great performer. If you are intimidated enough, they may not get the correct message from your work. If you are intimidated enough, you will avoid them and let someone else take credit. So let us stop all that before it starts.

They are human and make mistakes. Yes, it is true. You may want to think they landed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and are stranded here only to make your life a mess. Lucky for you, they are not. All humans make mistakes. What differentiates the C-Suite from others is that they learn and apply mistakes of theirs and those reporting to them.

They don’t know everything. They should not know everything either. they hire and cultivate those below them to make the right decisions based on the overall company vision. If the CEO is a finance person they do not know everything about marketing, and vice versa. They surround themselves with experts of industry. Who knows? you may be that expert.

They want to see your hard work not hear about it. Bring them ideas when afforded the opportunity. If the opportunity does not present itself, find a need, and make a pitch to present it to them. Start solving their problems. Walk the walk as they say.

They are busy. They don’t just sit around all day like some may think. This level is juggling many different initiatives. When trying to get a hold of them on an issue or pertinent project you may have to try a few means to get a hold of them. Email does not always cut it.

They will go to bat for you. If you make yourself visible to the C-Suite they will stand up for you when needed. They are very protective of their top performers. If you repeatedly take initiative and always keep the company’s best interests in mind, they will recognize it. You may not even realize how much they like you. Find ways to get them talking about you without you in the room, you may not even know it for months or years.

Taking all these things into consideration, they can fire you as well. Tread lightly. However, as long as you always put forth your best effort and are sincere about it, you have nothing to worry about.